


One More Chance

by 1Q96



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Conversations, Boys In Love, Clary and Magnus are siblings, Drama, Drama & Romance, Ex-Lovers to Friends to Best Friends to Lovers (again), F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Good Parent Maryse Lightwood, I don't know how to tag properly, Idiots in Love, Izzy is a caring sister, Jace is happy, Light Angst, Lightwood Siblings Feels, M/M, Marine!Alec, Musician!Magnus, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Simon isn't a good driver, kinda slow burn?, long car drives, the slowest of slow burns, very slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-10-28 09:26:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10828428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Q96/pseuds/1Q96
Summary: AU. Staff Sergeant Alexander Lightwood of the US Marine Corps. took a  leave from his deployment in Korea so he could attend his brother’s wedding in their hometown of Alicante. Going back home for the wedding meant seeing some familiar faces, and he’s forced to meet up again with Magnus Bane, a talented violinist of the prestigious New York Symphony, a few years after their tragic break-up.With this inevitable reunion, some long-forgotten memories and buried feelings resurfaces. As life throws them back again to each other’s orbit, will they ever give their unfinished story another chance?___This is a story filled with angsty internal monologues, long drives, awkward encounters, sappy love ballads, late night movie marathons, endless conversations about feelings, sleepy subway rides, and a few spontaneous kisses.





	1. Homeward Bound

“ _SIMON_ , LOOK OUT!” 

Alec jolted forward from his seat at the back of Simon’s car. He immediately grabbed hold of the seat in front of him, and he braced himself from the sudden impact as the car came to a screeching halt. When the car stopped, he slammed to his seat as his seatbelt pulled him back to his original position. When he was sure that the car wasn’t going to move in an alarming way, he glanced over at the driver’s seat and saw Simon breathing heavily with a look of distress flooding his features. On the passenger seat, Izzy had one of her hands wrapped tightly around her seatbelt, and her other arm was extended in front of her, the palm of her hand placed on top of the dashboard as she tried to balance herself.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry!” Simon apologized, cursing at himself as he fixed his glasses. He turned to Isabelle and back at Alec, and his eyes scanned both of them. “Are you guys alright?”

The siblings didn’t respond right away, mainly because they were too busy trying to calm their frantic hearts. The three of them turned their attention to the front of the car, where a wild animal jumped in the middle of the road just a few moments ago.

“Well, we’re still alive.” Izzy pointed out after a minute of silence passed between them. 

“Barely,” Alec muttered as he rolled his eyes. He removed his seatbelt and shifted closer to the space between the front seats. He turned to stare directly at his younger sister. “Why did you let Simon drive us home? You’re way more careful than your reckless boyfriend.”

“Hey, I’m _not_  reckless.” Simon argued, frowning at Alec’s choice of words. “My driving has been perfectly safe this whole trip—well, at least before that weird-looking animal jumped out of nowhere.”

“ _Safe?!_  You almost got us killed, Simon! And what’s worse is that it’s not even the first time today.”

“That's not true!”

“You almost collided with another car a few hours ago when we were near Scranton.” Alec couldn't help but roll his eyes again. He looked at Simon, and silently challenged him to explain that as _safe_ driving.

“I'm not in the wrong there, Alec. That guy counter-flowed! We were in our proper lane, and that assho—”

“How about that time when you were going way too fast and almost crashed the car when you shifted lanes?”

“We were on a highway, and I was following the speed limit! I signaled when I was about to shift lanes, but that car behind us was a fuckin—”

“Guys, enough already!” Izzy chimed in, interrupting whatever Simon was about to say. She turned and frowned at her big brother’s unamused face. As she reached her hand out and laced her fingers around Simon’s, she shot both of them a stern look. “We’re almost home, so no need to start getting into each other’s throats.”

“That is _if_ we can even reach home alive,” Alec retorted, crossing his arms and leaning back to his seat. 

Simon frowned, clearly offended by Alec’s remark. He was about to defend himself again when Izzy tugged on his arm and gave him a look that said _don’t worry, I got this._

“Alec, I trust Simon. He’ll get us there, safe and sound. So, don’t worry, okay? Everything’s going to be fine.” Izzy assured her brother, turning around on her seat to face him. She reached out to pat his knee in a comforting way, and she smiled at him.

Alec stared back at her for a while, and he eventually sighed. With a light shake of his head, he put his seatbelt back on and then turned his attention to the rearview mirror. He waited until his hazel eyes met Simon’s brown ones before he spoke. “How many more hours ’til we’re there?” 

“Just a little over an hour left,” Simon said as he chose to ignore Alec’s earlier comment. 

Izzy smiled to herself as her big brother and her boyfriend finally calmed down.

“Well then, we should go ahead.”

Simon nodded, and didn’t say another word. After checking for any more possible hazards in their way and finding none, he released the brakes and started driving again.

The remainder of the drive back to their hometown was, for the most part, relatively quiet. There were a few small talk here and there, but they mostly just let the music from the radio play at the background. At some point, Izzy connected her phone to the car and played some random 90’s music from her playlists, and Simon absentmindedly started singing along to the tune. A little bit of laughter ensued when Izzy started to sing as well, and she threw a playful punch at Simon’s arm when he tried to jokingly harmonize with her.

Throughout all of this, Alec stayed silent on his seat at the back. He tried his best to tune out his companions’ cheerful banter as he scooted a bit closer to the window and lightly leaned his head to the door. He watched as the view from the outside changed before his eyes.

The road curved in an elegant arc as it weaved through the side of the hill. Hundreds of trees lined up perfectly at the outskirts of the road; their colors blur into a warm blend of green and brown as the car zoomed past them in a hurry. Once in a while, the peaceful scene would be interrupted with a few cars passing by in the opposite direction, hurriedly making their way to their own destination.

Before Alec could further admire the surroundings, he noticed that the trees started to grow thin as they approached another road, which is a lot straighter and wider than the one they’re on. Once they reached the end, they took a left turn and sped away. They were greeted with a just few slim trees and tall, wild grass on the side of the road. A few minutes in, Alec looked further away and he could make out an outline of a mountain in the distance.

He was so engrossed with the view that he didn’t noticed that the background music was toned down, and he didn’t hear Simon calling his name at first.

“Hey, Alec?”

Alec snapped back to reality as he turned his gaze away from the window and glanced at Simon for a moment before looking straight ahead, his eyes focusing on the empty road ahead of them. 

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay back there? You haven’t spoken at all since we stopped earlier.” Simon observed, looking at him through the rearview mirror.

“I’m fine,” Alec mumbled, turning back to the window beside him. He sighed, and lightly bumped his head to the side. “I’m just tired, that’s all.”

At the corner of his eye, he saw his sister move as she turned around on her seat and watched him with concern. He tilted his head a little bit in her direction and subtly shook his head, silently telling her that he doesn’t want to talk about it now. Izzy understood at once, and she casually looked away.

“Oh, uh—okay. Just sit back and relax…” Simon trailed off, not knowing what else to say. He started tapping his fingers around the steering wheel. He didn’t noticed the faint exchange earlier between the siblings—or maybe he did, but he didn’t comment on it anymore.

The car went silent once more, and Alec could tell from the way Simon’s hand fidget on the wheel that he didn’t enjoy the stillness. Izzy noticed it as well, and she immediately turned the volume of the speakers up again as music started filling up the car with songs from her R&B playlists.

After a few minutes, Simon attempted to get another conversation going again.

“Are you guys excited for the wedding?” he suddenly asked, eagerly trying to lift up the mood. “I mean, I can’t believe it’s already gonna happen next week!”

“Well, obviously, we’re all very excited,” Izzy remarked, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend. “The fact that my brother is going to marry his childhood sweetheart is such a weird and amazing thing, and their whole love story is like one of those cliché romcoms we all love to watch!”

“I know, it’s really exciting! And I can’t wait to see everyone,” Simon grinned, tapping his fingers excitedly. Izzy watched him affectionately as he babbled on, “The whole gang’s going, right? Like, everyone’s going to be there? Obviously there’s the two lovebirds, then your mom and Clary’s parents, the three of us, Maia, and Magnu—” 

“Yeah, everyone’s going to be there,” Izzy cut him off abruptly, her expression changed as she threw a cautionary glare at his way. 

Simon frowned back at her, looking confused as hell. She tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to take a hint. It took a whole minute for him to understand, and when he did, his eyes slowly grew wide and his mouth formed a small “o”.

Izzy sighed, and slowly sneaked a peek at Alec’s direction. 

While their conversation unfolded, Alec was gazing out of the window again. However, unlike before, he was aware of what his sister and her boyfriend were talking about. So, when Simon started mentioning a few names of their family members and friends, Alec knew he would eventually hear _his_ name. He was grateful when his sister tried to intervene, but she couldn’t really stop Simon’s blabber mouth. Even after all this years, the thought of _him_  still made Alec feel like there's a heavy weight crushing his heart—sinking it deep and making it harder for him to breathe.  

He closed his eyes and mentally cursed at himself as a very painful memory flooded his head. He clenched his jaw as he tried to push the heavy thoughts away. 

_Pull yourself together, Alec._

“Alec?”

He opened his eyes almost as quickly as he heard his name. His hazel eyes met his sister’s medium brown ones, which were, once again, filled with concern. Izzy reached out her hand to him and placed her hand on his knee, giving it a comforting squeeze. Alec glanced down on her hand and studied it for a moment, then he slowly lifted his eyes to meet hers again. He placed his right hand on top of hers and gave it a squeeze back, all the while giving her a small, grateful smile.

Their sweet sibling moment was cut short when Simon announced, “Guys, we’re here.”

The three of them stared ahead as the large sign of their village greeted them, the words _Welcome to the Village of Alicante, Idris County, New York_  in bright yellow paint flashed before their eyes. 

“We’re home,” Izzy nodded, a huge grin quickly formed on her red-tinted lips. She briefly looked at Simon and saw him with a smile as big as her own.

“Finally,” Alec said under his breath as he lowered the glass window beside him. The chill breeze of early spring instantly blew towards his face, and he embraced the familiar feeling.

Simon turned the heater off as he and Izzy mimicked Alec’s action and rolled down their own respective windows. Izzy’s long, raven hair swirl wildly around her as the wind blew past her, which earned a laugh from her boyfriend and her brother. The gush of the cool air reminded them about those spring mornings they’ve spent walking around town after school, with the lukewarm heat of the sun following them around wherever they go. 

Their hometown looked exactly the way they left it when they last visited; mostly brown-stoned buildings with the occasional vibrant colors splashing through the scene, with vivid posters and signs of the different stores that found a place along the ground floor. A few trees and grass patches decorated the predominantly concrete sidewalks, where a few people walked around and went on with their day. A handful of kids were going around with their bikes, while some walked with their parents and their pets. A few good men were chatting outside a coffee shop, and several ladies went rushing in to the nearby grocery.

As their car drove away towards the residential area, Alec caught a glimpse of a familiar alley that held a special memory to him. His lips turned up slightly in a sad smile as he vividly remembered riding his bike along the side path, then he fell off and got himself hurt as he almost ran over a kid, a year older than he was, who jumped from that alley and landed in front of him to protect a cat from being crushed.

_“I’m so sorry for jumping in front of you like that. The cat just jumped out of my arms, and I couldn’t just let it get ran over by cars—or bikes—so I ran after it,” The kid explained as he took out a small towel from his backpack and pressed it on Alec’s injured knee._

_Alec didn’t say anything, and he just let the him dab the towel onto his scratched knee. The boy didn’t glance up at him, but Alec could tell that he was embarrassed by his actions. There was a hint of blush on the boy’s cheek, and he deliberately tried to avoid meeting Alec’s steady, annoyed gaze._

_Eventually, Alec’s annoyance subsided, and he just watched as the boy grabbed another small towel from his bag and tied it around Alec’s knee. After knotting the piece of cloth securely around the wound, the boy sighed and finally allowed himself to look up at Alec’s face._

_Alec had never seen such beautiful dark brown eyes before._

He glanced away from the window as the memory of _those_  eyes made his heart felt heavy again. He shifted his focus at the front of the car, where he noticed how near they are to their home. Different houses that vary in shapes and sizes replaced the busy atmosphere of the main central part of town. A number of cars were parked on the driveway, each having their own space in front of their owner’s house.

As Simon took a right turn at the following corner, they caught sight of the Lightwoods’ and Garroways’ family residences at the end of the street.

Both of the structures were built in the style of 1920’s fashion, complete with elegantly crafted posts that supports each of their porches and large rectangular windows that allowed natural light shine into the house. However, the Lightwoods have a much larger and flashier house than the Garroways, who had a modest yet tasteful style to their home. 

The two houses stood out from the rest in the neighborhood as the trio approached them. A heavy dose of nostalgia flowed through them as they finally drive up the road and stopped in front of Alec and Izzy’s childhood residence.

“There’s Jace’s car,” Izzy noted as she easily took off her seatbelt. She looked a bit confused as she eyed the sedan parked in front of Luke and Jocelyn’s lot. “I thought he and Clary won’t be here until Wednesday?”

“Maybe something came up?” Simon shrugged, taking his seatbelt off as well. Alec did the same thing behind him. “Or maybe they just want to spend some time here before the wedding.”

“Maybe,” Alec said thoughtfully as he gathered his leather jacket and scarf from the back seat. Once he had them, he opened the door and stepped out of the car.

Izzy and Simon followed suit, taking a few of their belongings with them as they climbed out of the car. Before the trio could close their respective doors, they heard a familiar voice shouting at them from the Garroways’ porch. The three of them looked up and saw a fluffy mop of golden blond hair shining in the sun. They all grinned widely when they saw Jace walking briskly towards them, a huge smile plastered on his face.

“The cavalry has finally arrived!” Jace exclaimed dramatically, stretching his arms out as he approached his sister, who was laughing along with the other two. He enveloped her in a massive hug, and kissed her forehead. “Damn, I missed you so much.”

“Jace, you just saw me two weeks ago. I had lunch with you and Clary, remember?”

“Two weeks is a long time, Izzy.”

“By the angels, stop being so clingy!” she said in fake annoyance, playfully shoving him away. Jace pouted as he held onto her and tightened his embrace. Izzy laughed at his ridiculous expression. “And can you please stop pouting? It doesn’t suit you at all, and it makes you look like a duck.”

“I’m deeply offended by that statement,” Jace frowned, releasing her from his arms and jokingly pushing her away.

“She has a point, though,” Alec smirked as he went to open the hatch at the back of the car. 

He started to unload their luggage and the other stuff they brought along with them. Simon lend a hand, and brought their belongings to the side of the Lightwoods’ lawn. As they were doing so, Alec could hear a few other voices approaching them. While all of that was going on, Jace hurriedly walked around the car and stopped beside his brother, who was preoccupied with sorting out their things. Alec felt Jace’s heavy stare on him, and he focused his attention on his brother’s blue and brown eyes right away.

“What?” he abruptly asked, raising his eyebrow in a confused way. He was completely puzzled by the weird-looking smile on Jace’s lips.

Jace didn’t say anything as he promptly threw himself at Alec and gripped him tightly, thoroughly catching his brother off-guard. Alec breathed out a surprised laugh, and embraced his younger brother in a tight hug.

“I missed you so much, Alec.”

“I missed you too, Jace.”

They shared a quiet moment between brothers before Jace carefully pulled out from the embrace. He kept Alec at an arms length, with both of his hands on his brother's shoulder.

“So, how’s my best man doing?” Jace questioned, examining him from head to toe. Alec knew that his brother is checking for any injuries that he might’ve tried to hide, and so he rolled his eyes at him and shook his head.

“I’m fine, Jace. As you can tell, I’m perfectly healthy and alive.” he muttered, looking around as he checked for anyone that might hear him. He leaned closer to Jace as he lowered his voice. “I’ve got no injuries this time, so could you please stop that.” 

“Well, that’s good hear. No, wait—that’s not _just_ good, that’s great!” his brother beamed, punching his shoulder in a playful manner. 

As Jace’s fist brushed his shoulder, Alec reacted by tentatively rubbing it and pretending it hurt him, which alerted Jace almost instantly. Seeing the panicked expression on Jace’s face—wide eyes, raised eyebrows, slightly opened mouth—had Alec snorting out a laugh, which earned him another punch from his now-irritated blond-haired brother.

“That’s not funny, Alec.”

“You should’ve seen your face, though! I’m sure you would’ve laughed too.”

Jace rolled his eyes and shook his head, but Alec caught a hint of a smile on his younger brother’s lips before Jace turned away and dragged some of the luggages to their house. Simon already took some of them in, and Alec noticed that Luke helped in carrying the others as well.

With a deep sigh, Alec reached up and closed the hatch of the car with a swift push of his hand, and he stepped out towards the space in the lawn to greet his family. As soon as he appeared into view, his eyes scanned around to see the people who were waiting for them.

First, he noticed Jace as the younger Lightwood walked towards their home with two big luggages—one on each of his hands. Next, he saw his mom, Jocelyn, Simon, and Luke by the steps to their front porch. They appeared to be talking and sharing a laugh as the two men tried to catch their breaths from lifting all of the things to the house. Alec felt embarrassed for not them helping out and letting Luke take care of some of their belongings, so he made a mental note to apologize later on. Then, he turned to the side and saw Clary and Izzy excitedly chattering away like they normally do when they’re both together. 

Clary turned her head slightly and caught his eye, and she grinned as she called out, “Alec!”

He beamed at his soon-to-be sister-in-law, and he was about to approach them when he saw another figure coming out from the Garroways’ front porch. He stopped dead on his tracks when he realized who it was.

Alec stared in awe as _he_ walked down the steps in a gracefully manner, almost like he’s floating with each move of his feet. He continued walking towards them—towards him—and Alec noticed that he was playing with a few sets of his rings, which decorated most of his fingers. He had his hair in a spiked-up fashion, with none of its former color streak that Alec missed so much. He wore a simple black and white patterned button-up shirt that emphasizes his broad shoulders and thick arms, which made Alec stare for a whole minute as he tried to comprehend what is in front of him. His neck was adorned with a few necklaces that shimmered down to his chest, which can be seen through the few unbuttoned parts of his shirt. He paired all of this with black skinny jeans that perfectly hugged his strong thighs, and a pair pointed black boots.

Alec gazed back up to face him, and was immediately drawn to his beautiful dark brown eyes—which was _staring right at him_  with a look of surprise and a hint of sadness tucked in there. He noticed that he was wearing black eyeliner and some bits of glitter.

“Magnus,” Alec breathed out, not knowing what to say. He didn’t know he held his breath until he said his name, and he almost forgot that they weren’t alone—Clary and Izzy were there, watching them with a little bit of unease.

Clary's and Izzy’s eyes followed Magnus as he walked past them and stopped in front of Alec, leaving just a few steps between them.

“Alec,” Magnus greeted him with a tiny smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Seeing that expression on Magnus’s face brought up painful memories of the last time they saw each other, and Alec, once again, felt a heavy weight on his heart.

Guilt and regret washed over him as he heard the next words that came out of Magnus’s mouth.

“It’s been a while.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of, hello and thank you for taking the time to read this!
> 
> This is my first ever multi-chaptered AU fic for the Shadowhunters fandom, and also the first multi-chaptered fic since I started writing again. I'm pretty excited (and _extremely_ scared/nervous) to share it with all of you. 
> 
> Just a quick explanation: I've had this idea for almost month now, but I decided to spend some time researching and plotting the story before I actually start writing it, so as to ensure that I'll be able to finish it. I didn't do this before with my previous fics back when I was younger, so I've had a few unfinished ones in my previous fandoms. I don't want that to happen here, so I've already planned out the whole thing, from start to finish. The only thing I need to do now is to write each chapter in detail.
> 
> If you enjoyed reading this and want me to continue writing, please let me know in the comments below, or message me through my tumblr, [troubleusuallyfinds-me](http://troubleusuallyfinds-me.tumblr.com/ask). I really appreciate all the comments and ask/messages I receive, and it really gives me that push I need to continue writing. I also welcome constructive criticism, if you have any. 
> 
> You can also message me if you want to be friends. I really need some SH friends right now.
> 
> As always, this piece is also not beta'd so I apologized if there are any mistakes! English isn't my first language, but I try my best to write with good grammar, punctuations, spelling, etc. 
> 
> Once again, thanks for reading!
> 
> Much love,  
> Ria (1Q96)


	2. Loose Ends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i apologize for the delay in posting the chapter. i was supposed to post it three weeks ago but i’ve went through some emotional and mentally-exhausting shit and i didn’t get to finish it in time, so i’m sorry guys! also, this is unbeta’d, so apologies for any mistakes. hope y’all enjoy this one xx

“I’m sorry to interrupt you both, but I think we better go up and unpack our stuff, Alec.”

Alec pulled his eyes away from Magnus’s and turned his attention to his younger sister, who quietly moved to stand beside him. She clutched onto his arm, and gently tugged him away from the beautiful man standing before them. He watched as she threw an apologetic smile at Magnus, who politely smiled back and gave her as subtle nod.

“You’re right, you two should settle in.” Magnus agreed as he took a step back, away from the raven-haired siblings. His dark brown eyes found its way back to Alec’s hazel ones, and Alec noticed the delicate pained-look on Magnus's face was back, hidden behind a half-smile as he turned to him. “It's good to see you again, Alec.”

“Yeah,” Alec nodded, his voice sounding a bit strained. The look on Magnus’s face clearly told him that his former best friend is just trying to be civil. He forced a smile as he said, “It’s good to see you too, Magnus.”

With that, Izzy pulled her brother away before he could see Magnus’s reaction, and Alec let her guide him by the hand towards their house. The two walked towards Simon, Luke, and Jace, who standing at the front porch. Alec noticed that his mom and Jocelyn weren’t there anymore, and that the three men were laughing at one of Luke’s corny dad jokes. Seeing how happy her boyfriend is at that moment, Izzy laughed lightly at Simon, and she sneaked a kiss on his cheek as she went ahead inside the house. Simon grinned behind her, then he and Jace followed right after her. Meanwhile, Alec stayed behind and shook Luke’s hand, and the older man pulled him in and gave him a massive hug. Then, just as quickly, they pulled away and Luke patted his back.

“The soldier finally returned!” Luke said with a huge grin on his face. Alec couldn’t help but do the same, and in that moment, the earlier encounter with Magnus was temporarily forgotten.

“It’s feels great to be back home.” he beamed, genuinely glad to see the older man, who was like a father figure to him as he was growing up. As he stood there, Alec remembered something he needed to say, and he blurted out, “Oh, yeah, uh—about earlier… I’m sorry you and Simon brought in our stuff. I should’ve helped ou—”

“Alec, don’t worry about it. It’s fine.” Luke interrupted him as he waved his hands to stop Alec. 

“But you shouldn’t be lifting so many heavy things. Especially now that you’re ol—”

“It’s really no big deal. Besides, I’m not that old, okay? I still got a lot of strength left in me.”

He made his point when he slightly flexed his arm and pointed at it, laughing while doing so. Alec just shook his head and chuckled at the display, which earned him a light punch on the shoulder.

“Anyway, I think you better go ahead.” Luke continued on, pointing his thumb to the door and gesturing for Alec to go inside. “You’ve got a lot of stuff to take care of, and I’m sure you’re exhausted from traveling with those two love birds.”

“Oh yeah, you’re definitely right about _that_.” Alec agreed as he chuckled, turning towards the entrance of his home. He took a step towards the door, but he turned slightly back to smile at Luke. “It’s good to see you, Luke. It’s great to see everyone here.”

“I know, Alec. It’s really great to see you, too.” Luke nodded happily, and patted Alec's back again, near his shoulder. “Now, go on ahead, and I’ll see you when I see you.”

Alec nodded, and did what he was told. He left Luke as he followed the others inside. Before he went through the door, Alec took one last look behind him and saw Luke walking towards Clary and Magnus. The siblings were still standing at the spot where he and Izzy left them, but they appeared to be conversing about something important. The redhead looked worried as gracefully flung her arms and paced around while she spoke, and her brother listened intently while frowning at the phone he’s holding. Alec watched as they simultaneously glanced up as their dad came nearer.

With a deep sighed, Alec decided to leave them be and tried to walk away. However, before he could do so, his eyes caught Magnus briefly staring at him again. He held on to Magnus's gaze for a moment before the man looked away and placed his attention back to Luke and Clary.

_This is going to be a very long and difficult two weeks._

Alec let out a quiet groaned to himself, and walked inside.

He pushed himself past the dark mahogany door and was greeted with the familiar soft creak of the wooden floor as he stepped in. The first few things he noticed as he looked around were the old intricate paintings that hung on the walls, the sophisticated detailed carvings on every corner post that framed the walkway, and the large staircase that graced the left side of the hallway. There was a small pile of baggages on the floor beside the stairs, which, upon inspection, were Alec's belongings. As he moved closer to pick them up, he heard a few voices talking loudly over one another upstairs. A moment later, the sound was overshadowed by the footsteps of someone coming down the stairs. Alec looked up and saw that it was his sister.

“What’s going on up there?” he asked, a frown settling on his face. He watched as Izzy gracefully stepped down, and gave him a shrug as she swiftly grabbed his duffel bag from the floor. He tried to snatch it away from her, but she shot him a stern look and swatted his hand away.

“Jace and Simon are arguing over Simon’s outfit for the wedding,” she explained as she leaned down again and took the garment cover—which held his Marine dress blues—using her other hand. “Our brother was helping us unpack, and then he saw what suit Simon brought and they started bickering over it.”

Alec looked at her with confused expression on his face. “Wait, why are they fighting over that? Didn’t Jace tell Simon about the attire?” 

“He did tell Simon. They even went shopping for it a few weeks before we got here. But Simon did a last-minute packing for this trip, and so he accidentally ended up bringing a slightly different suit.”

Alec raised an eyebrow at the small revelation, then he shook his head as the frown formed on his face got deeper. “That's really careless.”

“I know, but in his defense, it’s not _that_ bad.” Izzy replied, looking slightly annoyed but also worried. Once she got settled with the baggages she’s holding, she beckoned her brother to follow her up the stairs, and he did. “The suit that Simon brought is actually really nice, and it looked great on him. Honestly, it’s not that far from the suit he was supposed to wear.”

After a beat, Alec sighed and shook his head again. “Your boyfriend can be a little infuriating sometimes; you know that, right?”

“I know, Jace said the same thing; but you guys should give him a break.” Izzy appealed as she stopped for a moment near the top of the stairs to stare directly at her brother. “I admit that he’s not perfect, but his good qualities outweigh the bad ones.”

He rolled his eyes, and uttered, “Well, I bet they’ll be arguing about that suit for a few days.”

Izzy sighed, knowing well enough that her big brother was right. As she landed on the top step, she proceeded to stride towards the door at the end of the hall—to Alec’s old room. Alec was walking right behind her, carrying his luggage. They passed by Izzy’s room, where they heard the faint sound of Jace and Simon still having a disagreement over the suit. From the outside, it sounded like their brother seemed to have calmed down, and they could hear Simon apologizing. 

Izzy turned to Alec, and made a face— _well, it looks like they’re okay now_ —as she pointed at her door. She smiled triumphantly when her older brother just rolled his eyes again. Alec nudged her to move forward, and she obliged as she carried on towards his room. She stopped in front of the door, and gestured at Alec to hold his duffel bag for a moment. She reached for the handle, and readily unlocked it with one turn of the knob. 

Alec’s old room appeared to be the same as he left it a few years ago. The room still held some better parts of his childhood, such as the different posters that decorated a few parts of his olive green walls, the sturdy wooden shelf at the right side of his room that was filled with numerous classic and contemporary books, his bow and quiver that were displayed near his small trophy case, and his antique study desk that was set by the window. His old bed was replaced with a much bigger one, and it took up most of the space in the middle of the room.

Izzy entered the room and immediately placed his duffel bag on the floor, near his bed. Alec watched as she carefully hanged his dress blues in his closet, and she turned around and gracefully flopped herself onto his bed.

“So,” she began, while making herself comfortable. Once she found a cozy spot, she lazily propped herself up on her elbow and stared directly at her brother.

“So… what?” Alec questioned, as he placed his luggage near the spot where she dropped his duffel bag. He looked at his sister curiously, gesturing for her to continue.

Izzy’s medium brown eyes studied his face for awhile, then her expression shifted into a more soft and cautious one when she finally spoke up, “How are you feeling, Alec?”

From her expression and tone, Alec instantly knew the underlying meaning behind her simple question, and he froze as he remembered what happened earlier. He attempted to control his expression discreetly, but he slipped as a little hint of sadness appeared in those pair of hazel eyes. He turned away from her, but she already saw his tough exterior crumble for a tiny bit. He sat down on the floor and started to take out his clothes one by one from his bag. He meticulously placed his neatly-folded clothes on top of his bed, beside his sister’s resting form. He could feel Izzy’s eyes on him as he continued to unpack, and he decided to face her.

“I’m okay, Izzy.” he answered, his voice sounded controlled. He gave his best and most convincing smile that he could muster, but he felt that Izzy could see right through him. Nevertheless, he went on, “Really, I’m fine.”

His sister watched him thoroughly, trying to see past the facade he made for himself. The silent staring contest between them lasted for what seemed like an eternity, and eventually, Alec gave up as he broke the bond and looked down to his hands that held a shirt and were rested on top of his crossed legs. After a minute or two, he felt the bed shift beside him as Izzy silently got out of it and slid down to the floor next to him. Alec watched as she scooted closer to him, and she gently wrapped her arms around him as she rested her head on his shoulder. He leaned onto the touch, and ultimately, he rested his cheek on top of his sister’s head.

“You can always talk to me about anything, Alec.” she reminded him softly, holding him tighter in her arms. She gently gave him a squeeze as she babbled on, “You don’t have to bottle everything up inside.”

Alec let her words sink in for a moment before he faintly muttered, “I know.”

“It’s okay if you’re not ready to talk about it now,” she whispered, raising her head slightly to get a better view of her brother’s face. “But when you want to, just let me know... Is that okay with you?”

Alec didn’t say anything, but he nodded as a small grateful smile slowly formed on his lips. Izzy smiled back as she reached up and brushed away a few strands of hair that fell on his forehead. Afterwards, she leaned towards him and rested her head on his shoulders again. Minutes passed by as they just stayed in their comfortable position. Not long after, Izzy started to carefully removed herself from her place and easily stood up, leaving Alec on the floor. She bent down and placed a quick kiss on top of Alec’s head, and she started to retreat towards his door.

“Izzy?”

She turned around at the sound of her name, her raven hair flowing away from her face. Alec flashed her a shy smile as his hands fidget with the clothes on his lap.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, giving a light shrug. He looked down at his hand as he spoke a little louder, “for—well, you know.”

“Anything for you, big brother.” he heard her say, her tone reassuring. He glanced up just as Izzy shot him a smile, and she gestured at the door leading to the bathroom. “You could go freshen up, if you want. We’re all having dinner here later. Apparently, mom and Jocelyn are making a large feast downstairs.”

“Okay,” he agreed, eyeing the door with a tired look on his eyes. He turned his attention back to his sister as she was about to close his door. “Thanks again, Izzy.”

She just threw in a quick grin before she finally closed the door, leaving Alec alone with his thoughts. 

He stayed on his spot and he listened to his sister's footsteps as it quietly faded away. Once he no longer hear her presence, he deliberately got up from the floor and walked around his bed. He found himself in front of his old study desk and his eyes scanned the little trinkets displayed on top of it. There were a bunch of papers neatly stacked on one side, a few sharpened pencils on the small pen holder on the other, and two picture frames that were placed near the window. The desk lamp was still working when he turned it on, but he decided to switch it off right away.

As he sat on the chair, his eyes darted towards the window as his fingers absentmindedly traced the edges of the table. His thoughts lingered around what Izzy asked him earlier, and he kept repeating the same question over and over again in his head.

_How are you feeling, Alec?_

He drifted his attention to the two picture frames in front of him, and he frowned at one of them as he instinctively reached out and took it in his hands. He studied it for awhile, trying to remember the time when the picture was taken. It didn’t take long for him to recognize the carefree smile on his younger self’s lips, and the familiar youthful face of the man he just saw downstairs. The photo was captured during Alec’s junior year, a few days after going to prom with Magnus. He remembered sitting at the back of Magnus’s pick-up after school, and goofing around with the camera as Magnus wrapped his arms around him, throwing in a quick kiss on his cheek. The cheerful memories associated with the photo started to flood his mind, and a wide array of emotions suddenly popped up that made his heart burn with intensity.

_Happiness. Yearning. Pain. Frustration. Hatred. Guilt. Regret. Shame. Heartache._

Before all of these things could overwhelm him, Alec tried to push them away, down at the deepest parts of his mind and heart. He set the picture back on its position, and picked up the other one to keep his mind occupied with something other than that.

The other frame held a particularly fond memory, one that Alec wished he could go back and experience again. The image vividly played in his head, and he could almost feel like he’s back to being an eight-year old boy, tucked in his father’s arms as the whole family huddled over each other for a picture. Alec remembered his father wrapping his arm around him and Jace, and pulling them with him as he wrapped his other arm around his wife. Izzy was gathered in their mom’s arms, and the whole family was squished together in a warm embrace. He stared at each of their smiling faces, but his eyes lingered at his parents’ glowing look as they both appeared to have their hands on his mom’s growing bump.

_This isn’t really helping,_ he thought as his heart broke from recalling all the events that happened after the picture was taken.

As he tried to collect himself, he heard light footsteps walking on the hallway. The sound of each step distinctly became louder as it moved towards the direction of his room. Alec held his breath and listened intently as the person outside his door stopped and hesitated, not knowing what to do. Seconds past by, and then he heard a gentle knock on his door, followed by a soft voice calling out his name.

“Alec? Can I come in?”

His whole body immediately relaxed when he realized who it was, and he placed the picture back on top of his desk as he called out, “Yeah, go ahead.”

He spun his chair around just as the door opened to reveal the woman on the photograph he just held a few seconds ago. From the moment he saw her, Alec realized that even though time may have changed some aspects of her appearance, she still remained as beautiful as she was twenty years ago. What’s even better is that he knew that the woman standing before him is much stronger now than the one before.

“Hey, mom,” he breathe out steadily, a smile slowly appearing on his lips. He hastily got up and greeted her with a tight embrace, which she gladly returned in the same manner. “oh god, I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too.”  Maryse whispered with a low chuckle. She tenderly kissed his cheek, and then pulled back from his arms to get a good look at him. “You look great— _healthy_.”

“And very much alive,” Alec added, stating the obvious. Maryse stared earnestly at her son as she placed a hand on the side of his face.

“Yes, very much alive.” she agreed warmly, patting his cheek. After that, she dropped her hand as she inspected his room, taking note of the things he brought home with him. “So, how was your time in Korea?”

“Well, so far, it’s been really great. There’s a lot of stuff going on, and lots of discussions, trainings, and whatnot,” Alec said as he reached out and grab his pile of clothes from his bed. He brought them to his old closet, and placed them neatly in one of the drawers. When he turned back to get the others, his mom already got them and offered it to him. “But it has been relatively peaceful there, as compared to other places I’ve been assigned in the past.”

There’s a look of worry in her features as she inquired, “ _Relatively_  peaceful?”

“It’s nothing like the last few deployments I’ve had,” he reassured her, placing the second batch of clothes in another drawer. “So you shouldn’t be worried too much.”

“It’s kind of impossible not worry about you,” Maryse remarked as she perched on top of her son’s bed, her hands clasped together and rested on her lap. “Besides, I worry about your brother and sister too. It’s what I do.”

Alec let out a deep sighed, and shook his head as he walked up to his bed. He sat next to his mom and placed his arm around her shoulder, gently shaking her at first. Then, when she still looked a bit anxious, he proceeded to poke her arm, and tried to make her look at his face. He watched as she tried not to smile at his silly way of getting her attention, which made him grin widely. She swatted his hand away when it became too much, and it made him laugh.

“Seriously, mom. You don’t have to worry about me.” he stated again, tilting his head to the side. “I’m perfectly fine.”

Maryse stared at him thoughtfully, her eyes searching his face. They settled on his hazel one as she asked, “Are you, really?”

Alec understood that she meant everything else as a whole, and not just him being a Marine and getting deployed. He peered past her and briefly eyed the picture frames on top of his desk. His face slightly dropped for a little bit before he glanced back to his mom, his expression back to normal. “Yeah, I really am.”

Maryse raised her eyebrow, and turned around to see what her son saw behind her. She instantly noticed what caught Alec’s attention, and something quickly clicked in her mind. Alec observed as she got up from the bed, and shuffled towards the table, taking the frames in her hands. She went back down on the bed, and stared at the pictures quietly. There was silence that followed, and Alec wondered what was going through her head, but he didn’t say anything and decided to wait for her to speak.

She handed him the family picture he saw earlier, which he gladly took in his hand. He glanced up and saw his mom with a sad smile on her lips. “I wish your father was still here with us. I’m sure he would’ve been just as worried about you as I am.”

“I don’t doubt that he’d be worried,” he said, his fingers rubbing at the edges of the frame. He chuckled when he went on, “But he probably won’t be as paranoid as you are.”

Maryse rolled her eyes, and in that moment, you could tell where the Lightwood siblings got their sass from. “I’m not paranoid, Alec.”

“Whatever you say, mom.”

A blanket of silence wrapped itself around them once more, and Alec just focused on what he was holding. His mind ran back to the memories he uncovered earlier, and he realized how much he missed his dad, and how much his dad missed out on a lot of things that happened in his life. Before he could reflect some more, his thoughts were interrupted by his mom, who placed a steady hand on top of his own.

“I’m sure he would’ve been very proud of you,” she whispered, squeezing his hand in a comforting way. “He would’ve been proud of your brother and sister, too. He loved the three of you so much.”

Alec bit his lower lip as he thought hard about something. Before he could really think things through, he blurted out the question in his mind, “Have you ever wondered what life would've been like if—”

“—if your dad and I had stayed together?” His mom finished the question for him, her voice sounded small. Alec shyly looked up and nodded, to which Maryse smiled sadly and confided to him, “I wondered about that, too.”

Alec looked down at the picture again. “I imagined that things would’ve been a lot different.”

“It would’ve been very different,” she agreed, staring down at the picture as well. “I’ve always thought about what would’ve happened if we stayed together and worked things out. But at the time, we really needed to give each other space to breathe. Living back home in Manhattan was very depressing for me, especially after losing your baby brother.”

“I just realized that we never really talked about this before.” he noted, a slight frown forming on his face.

“Well, you and your siblings were too young to understand when it happened, and I never brought it up again when you got older.”

A moment of silence past again. Then, Alec nodded deliberately, and he asked in a low voice, “Did you have any regrets about leaving?”

“A few,” Maryse confessed. With a sighed, she glanced up and stared at Alec, who felt her gaze and stared back. “One of my regrets was that we didn’t make things right between us before it was too late. We had a lot of opportunities to talk and work everything out, especially when we were starting to move on from what happened with your brother. We just didn’t take those chances.”

She looked down on the other picture on her hand and thought about what she was going to say next. After a beat, she offered it to him, and he willingly took it. He held his breath as his eyes fixated on his and Magnus’s smiling faces. Beside him, he heard his mom say, “That doesn’t have to be the case for you, Alec. There’s still time left to change that.”

Alec let out a heavy breath and didn’t say anything as Maryse shuffled closer and wrapped her arms around his shoulder, bumping her head with his. Just like what happened with Izzy earlier, they stayed in their space in comfortable silence. After a minute or so, Maryse gave Alec a gentle squeeze before she carefully released him from her hold.

“Well, I think I should go back downstairs.” she announced, smoothly getting up from the bed. Before she turned to the door, she bent down to place a quick kiss on his forehead, and put her hand on his cheek. She stared directly at his eyes, and there’s kindness in those medium brown eyes of hers that matched his sister's. “You don’t have to overthink all of this, Alec. I’m just suggesting that maybe it’s the right time to talk to him now. It’s been years since you last saw each other. I think that this is the time to tie any loose ends between you two, and maybe start over again.”

“I’ll try, mom.” Alec nodded, and flashed her a grateful smile. “Thank you.”

“Okay,” Maryse smiled back as she dropped her hand and turned to step towards the door. “Anyway, I better go and help Jocelyn prepare our dinner. We got some of your favorites dishes, and the others’, too. But I think you’ll be pretty excited about the steak, since I know how much you love that.”

“Gotta love the steak,” Alec grinned and let out a soft chuckle. His mom chimed it, and their quiet laughter made the room a bit brighter than the previous aura it had. “Thanks, mom.”

“Anything for you, Alec.” she said, before she closed the door behind her.

Once again, he listened to his mother’s light footsteps as it quietly faded away. When he was sure that she was gone, he got up and placed both of the frames back to his desk, arranging them neatly near the window. He stared at them for a moment as he tapped his fingers, taking note of what his mother suggested for him to do. Without much of a thought, he reached up and scratched the back of his head, and then stretched his arms up as he instinctively yawned.

_Enough of that,_ he told himself, as his eyes focused on the door leading to the bathroom. _I need to relax._

He walked towards the part of the room where he discarded his bag, and picked up the clean towel he brought with him. As he made his way to the bathroom to take a shower, he tried to calm his mind down as he unwittingly started to come up with plans on how to approach the man whose heart he broke a few years ago.

_I’ll definitely try, but not right now._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello and thank you so much for reading! i’m honestly nervous to upload this chapter because it might not be as good as the first one, but i guess i'll never know unless i post it, right? anyway, please let me know what you think about it! leave a comment below, or let’s talk about the chapter over at my tumblr, troubleusuallyfinds-me! tell me your thoughts, any favorite lines from the first two chapters, and any feelings you might’ve had about all of this. i also welcome constructive criticism if you have any!
> 
> also, shoutout to the wonderful people who left encouraging comments on the first chapter! reading your comments made my day better and helped cheer me up when i was feeling really shitty and going through writer’s hell. so thank you everyone! I appreciate each and every one of you xx
> 
> ps. the next update might take a little longer for me to write, but i’m hoping y’all will stick around for it! thanks again, lovely people!


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